What a beautiful Fall weekend this was! Sorry it's almost over. My friend Roseann saw there was a class she wanted to take at Shake Rag Alley in Mineral Point, WI, so she talked me into taking it with her. That's only a 45 minute drive from Galena, where I spend lots of weekends. But we were driving from Chicago. That's a long way to drive and return in one day, almost 200 miles one way! But we did it. For three hours we focused on nuno felting, though it wasn't exactly what I'd envisioned. Nuno is about 10 years old. Instead of felting wool to wool, nuno involves felting wool through silk. But the most fun part of what we did was dyeing our white silk scarves. Kryss Marion, our teacher, had jars full of liquid dyes. We drenched the scarves in a vinegar/water bath, put them in plastic bags and added the dyes to the scarf with syringes. I love working in an intuitive way, and that's what this was. I had no idea what that scarf would like look after microwaving it in the bag for 30 seconds. When I laid it out on plastic, I loved the way it looked and didn't want to go any further. But I did. I grabbed wool rovings of similar colors and needle felted them at regular intervals. To make them stick even better, I used a more traditional felting technique. I poured soapy water on the wool, put another layer of plastic over the scarf and rolled it over a pool noodle. Then came lots of rolling back and forth, with my hands and arms, and then with my feet. It takes a long time for the felt to stick. It didn't totally work, but I needle felted more to make it stick. The needle runs the silk and gathers it, which is actually a pretty cool effect. Very artsy, of course. My fellow classmates liked the effect and declared my finished product as very Monet-like with watery turquoise and yellow and gold highlights. So I bought a couple more scarves to dye and felt, needle felting supplies, wool rovings. But the dye was my favorite part, though it was the quickest thing we did. I'm looking into doing that one of these days. Roseann showed me samples of burn out silk (hope that's right), which is sheer silk chiffon with white velvet patterns in it. Now those would be beautiful to dye! So I'm looking into where to get those scarves and the dyes.
I told Roseann about a free class at Caravan Beads today called Hammered Hoops. So we were back at it today. This time we hammered wire and added a dangly bead to create large hoop earrings. Very beautiful. I'm wearing mine as I write this. So now I'm looking into doing earrings with hammered wire. I bought more goodies: hammer, wire, files. But they were out of the steel plates that serve as a kind of anvil for the process. Talked to my brother and found out he has three vises. So tomorrow I'll get one from him. There's a metal surface on top where I can hammer. Hope it works out! I also heard about a great place called Sister Arts with knitting and other classes aimed at beginners or intermediate crafters. My crafting wanderings just keep expanding!
I have holiday fairs coming up soon, so I'd better get to work on the things I know how to do well. But I may throw in a few of these new interests to keep my potential customers wondering what will be for sale next year! And then there's my neglected novel. I'm thinking about publishing it on this blog in excerpts, which will force me to focus on it, maybe after all those holiday fairs are over.
Craft on!
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Adventures with Scandinavian Hats
Last year was my introduction to the Sievers School of Fiber Arts on Washington Island in Door County, Wisconsin. My friend Roseann has been going up there from Chicago for many years, exploring knitting, basketmaking, sewing and felting. We made silk fiber paper last time, much of which I haven't done anything with. The silk fibers have come in handy, however, as I've incorporated them into the collage on my glass vases and candle holders. This year, in her effort to find something we'd both be interested in, we signed up to knit Scandinavian hats with Carol Anderson. I'm a basic knitter, so I wasn't sure how this would work for me. But with the cooler weather hitting the Midwest, I got back in the mood for knitting!
Monday we left Chicago in plenty of time to make the last ferry from Gills Rock to the island. But the weather got worse the closer we got. By the time we reached the dock, Lake Michigan was filled with white caps banging against the rocky shore and the wind was blowing hard as the rain hit our car. There was no ferry to be seen, just a note on the ticket stand that said "Closed due to weather." Fortunately, the class didn't begin until 2:00 pm the next day. We called the school and they suggested an inexpensive motel for that night. We found ourselves in a line of Washington Island refugees seeking shelter when we got there. Making lemonade out of lemons, we indulged ourselves with a fish boil in Ephraim. The cold wind whipped up the flames as the kerosene burned off the grease in the big pot. Hearty food on a cold and windy night is a great comfort! We ate it all and staggered out to the car with full stomachs.
The next day, I looked out the window to see the trees still blowing violently in the wind. The ferry was not operating, but they would re-evaluate around noon. We arrived at the dock before noon to find a line of cars. I called the ferry's number again and they were loading from the Washington Island side. We waited patiently and were fortunate enough to be among those who made it on the ferry for that run. We rocked back and forth with spray hitting the car window. The class started a little late at 2:30 with only one student missing.
I hadn't knitted in a while, so I had practiced the night before. But for the decorative Scandinavian hats, I had to use the smallest needles ever - size #4. Carol had a number of hats, all named after her male family members. I decided on the Christopher hat because it was "easy." As it turned out, none of it was easy for me. I've decided that knitting is all about counting and making sure your math is perfect, as well as paying close attention to what you're doing. I picked a beautiful gray paired with an oatmeal white. But the gray was a mix of subtle colors and turned out to be hard to see. Not used to the small needles, and hampered by the color, my ribbing was way off. Roseann checked it out and suggested I leave it as is and call those first few rows "a design element." But the more I knitted, the worse it got. I ripped the whole thing out and started over sometime after midnight. By the next day, my ribbing was looking good. I was supposed to have 2 inches done when I walked in the door, but I had to finish that on Tuesday morning. But I was glad I ripped it out and started over. I was finally on my way to a beautiful hat!
I closely followed the pattern, though I occasionally missed a stitch in the sequence and had to keep ripping. We used two colors at a time, and I learned how to trap the many loose strands of yarn on the inside of the hat. I added a band of teal with gold accent stitches in the middle of the pattern. That really set off the grey and oatmeal! We had our pictures taken as a class for Sievers posterity, wearing our hats with open tops and the skeins of yarn still tethered to them.
For knitters, this was a loud and chatty group! Still, they had more experience and finished their hats, while I kept ripping out but gradually completing the pattern. A massage therapist came in with her chair on Thursday night and soothed our aching shoulders, necks and backs. I asked her to do my hands, as well as my head, since I felt a migraine coming on. It helped. We had a few other adventures, too, like getting Lawyer Pizza, drinking Island Wheat Beer, attending a Bead for Life party, and buying fresh veggies at a Farmers Market. Through it all I kept knitting that darn hat! Roseann completed hers and it looked beautiful on her - light blue with accents of dark blue and gold, it was perfect for her coloring. Like the other knitters who'd finished their hats, she started on a new one. We knitted while the ferry took us back to the mainland, sad to leave.
Roseann has her favorite places to shop on the way back through Door County. We bought apples, cherry wine, jam, cider donuts, limpa rye, smoked salmon and a lot more. It just kept piling up in the back of her car. Then we stopped to see my friend Lois in Algoma and followed her sister Mary to her farm, where we got pumpkins and squash right out of the garden. More stuff to pile in the back of Roseann's car! On to Milwaukee, where we had sushi in a restaurant with Roseann's daughter Jena and her boyfriend Eric. By the time we got back to Chicago, it was 1:00 in the morning!
I vowed to finish my hat over the weekend, and I did late last night, working with double point needles for the first time while watching Saturday Night Live. What a thrill to thread my yarn through the loops and pull that sucker tight! But I bought more of the Norwegian yarn that doesn't pill or scratch at Sievers, so I'm planning my next Scandinavian hat. My husband Clinton doesn't seem keen on the decorative design, so maybe it will be for me. I just want to hone my skills while it's still fresh in my mind!
Monday we left Chicago in plenty of time to make the last ferry from Gills Rock to the island. But the weather got worse the closer we got. By the time we reached the dock, Lake Michigan was filled with white caps banging against the rocky shore and the wind was blowing hard as the rain hit our car. There was no ferry to be seen, just a note on the ticket stand that said "Closed due to weather." Fortunately, the class didn't begin until 2:00 pm the next day. We called the school and they suggested an inexpensive motel for that night. We found ourselves in a line of Washington Island refugees seeking shelter when we got there. Making lemonade out of lemons, we indulged ourselves with a fish boil in Ephraim. The cold wind whipped up the flames as the kerosene burned off the grease in the big pot. Hearty food on a cold and windy night is a great comfort! We ate it all and staggered out to the car with full stomachs.
The next day, I looked out the window to see the trees still blowing violently in the wind. The ferry was not operating, but they would re-evaluate around noon. We arrived at the dock before noon to find a line of cars. I called the ferry's number again and they were loading from the Washington Island side. We waited patiently and were fortunate enough to be among those who made it on the ferry for that run. We rocked back and forth with spray hitting the car window. The class started a little late at 2:30 with only one student missing.
I hadn't knitted in a while, so I had practiced the night before. But for the decorative Scandinavian hats, I had to use the smallest needles ever - size #4. Carol had a number of hats, all named after her male family members. I decided on the Christopher hat because it was "easy." As it turned out, none of it was easy for me. I've decided that knitting is all about counting and making sure your math is perfect, as well as paying close attention to what you're doing. I picked a beautiful gray paired with an oatmeal white. But the gray was a mix of subtle colors and turned out to be hard to see. Not used to the small needles, and hampered by the color, my ribbing was way off. Roseann checked it out and suggested I leave it as is and call those first few rows "a design element." But the more I knitted, the worse it got. I ripped the whole thing out and started over sometime after midnight. By the next day, my ribbing was looking good. I was supposed to have 2 inches done when I walked in the door, but I had to finish that on Tuesday morning. But I was glad I ripped it out and started over. I was finally on my way to a beautiful hat!
I closely followed the pattern, though I occasionally missed a stitch in the sequence and had to keep ripping. We used two colors at a time, and I learned how to trap the many loose strands of yarn on the inside of the hat. I added a band of teal with gold accent stitches in the middle of the pattern. That really set off the grey and oatmeal! We had our pictures taken as a class for Sievers posterity, wearing our hats with open tops and the skeins of yarn still tethered to them.
For knitters, this was a loud and chatty group! Still, they had more experience and finished their hats, while I kept ripping out but gradually completing the pattern. A massage therapist came in with her chair on Thursday night and soothed our aching shoulders, necks and backs. I asked her to do my hands, as well as my head, since I felt a migraine coming on. It helped. We had a few other adventures, too, like getting Lawyer Pizza, drinking Island Wheat Beer, attending a Bead for Life party, and buying fresh veggies at a Farmers Market. Through it all I kept knitting that darn hat! Roseann completed hers and it looked beautiful on her - light blue with accents of dark blue and gold, it was perfect for her coloring. Like the other knitters who'd finished their hats, she started on a new one. We knitted while the ferry took us back to the mainland, sad to leave.
Roseann has her favorite places to shop on the way back through Door County. We bought apples, cherry wine, jam, cider donuts, limpa rye, smoked salmon and a lot more. It just kept piling up in the back of her car. Then we stopped to see my friend Lois in Algoma and followed her sister Mary to her farm, where we got pumpkins and squash right out of the garden. More stuff to pile in the back of Roseann's car! On to Milwaukee, where we had sushi in a restaurant with Roseann's daughter Jena and her boyfriend Eric. By the time we got back to Chicago, it was 1:00 in the morning!
I vowed to finish my hat over the weekend, and I did late last night, working with double point needles for the first time while watching Saturday Night Live. What a thrill to thread my yarn through the loops and pull that sucker tight! But I bought more of the Norwegian yarn that doesn't pill or scratch at Sievers, so I'm planning my next Scandinavian hat. My husband Clinton doesn't seem keen on the decorative design, so maybe it will be for me. I just want to hone my skills while it's still fresh in my mind!
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
9/9/9 - And yes, today is my birthday!
Today wasn't an especially significant birthday for me. But the date was memorable - 9/9/9. Ten years ago I had a 9/9/99 party, which was unusual and memorable. I was doing open mic poetry in Chicago then, so my husband Clinton and I created a performance space in our home. We rented sound equipment and lit it as best we could with the lamps we had. We invited friends, family, co-workers and neighbors to join us that Thursday evening, and they did! We had musicians, a dancer, and lots of poets. We even had featured performers, just like the real open mikes do. When I look back, a lot has changed with some of their lives. Melanie, who hadn't performed in a while before that, has gone back to singing and playing guitar at cafes and folk festivals. Janet did her first public east Indian dance. She went on to perform in full costume as part of a Bharat Natyam dance troupe, then branched off to become her own choreographer, mixing her graphic designer skills in her dance presentations. Shelley (Miller), one of the featured performers, joined me in a duo called Moon Lodge for a couple years, then went on to be part of the faculty at the Old Town School of Folk Music with two CD's, a website, lots of videos on YouTube and a performance schedule of her own. You go, Loud Girl!!!
But some sadness has since happened, too. Connie, who did Native American drumming and led us in singing along that night, has succumbed to a brain tumor. JJ Jameson, who was a lovable curmudgeon of the Chicago poetry scene turned out to be an escaped felon and was returned to prison in the Boston area. (Currently, there are friends from his church trying to get him out on parole and bring him back to Chicago. There's also a documentary out there all about his life called "Killer Poet.")
So here we are again! Another birthday with nothing but "9's" in the date! I had been thinking of what I'd do this time, but finding the energy and money to get the house really cleaned up and fixed up - we have issues - just didn't seem possible, given my crazy schedule. So I got together with friends at lunch - Melanie the singer was one. And for dinner Iwent to Wildfire in Glenview with my husband Clinton, My brother Mike and his gal Kymm. The place was packed and there seemed to be other folks celebrating their birthdays throughout the room. Mike's birthday was Sunday, 9/6/9. So we exchanged gifts, ate too much, drank a bit, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves! All our dishes were outstanding, including dessert.
Clinton surprised me with some appropriate gifts. He continued the theme from my last blog entry, which was about seeing the film "Julie & Julia." He dug in the pantry and found my mom's copy of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" by Julia Child. I thought my mom owned it, but I couldn't remember if I had it or not (she died 8/14/99, shortly before my big party). It was exciting to look through her worn copy from 1970. Throughout were clippings of recipes from newspapers, notably from the St. Petersburg Times back in the 80's. That meant she took it with her when she and my dad went off to FL for the winter months. A time capsule. Clinton continued the theme by buying me Julia Child's autobiography, "My Life in France" which looks wonderful - lots of photos.
So how has my life changed in the last ten years? In that time I've been a poet, a singer/songwriter, a novelist, a college teacher, a jewelry designer and a collagist. I still have my full-time job in educational publishing, but it keeps changing, mostly getting more technical and less hands-on. Wish I could find the time to pursue all my creative interests simultaneously, but that will have to wait for retirement, which is now only five years away. My Etsy shop, the galleries where I have my craft work, and the ones I'm trying to get into will help supplement my income in the years ahead. I look forward to more creative adventures, whatever they will be. Maybe I'll get that novel published and bring my compositions together in a CD some day. I finally have ideas for drawings, so I'd like to try my hand at that again soon. I'd better get busy, before I run out of time!
But some sadness has since happened, too. Connie, who did Native American drumming and led us in singing along that night, has succumbed to a brain tumor. JJ Jameson, who was a lovable curmudgeon of the Chicago poetry scene turned out to be an escaped felon and was returned to prison in the Boston area. (Currently, there are friends from his church trying to get him out on parole and bring him back to Chicago. There's also a documentary out there all about his life called "Killer Poet.")
So here we are again! Another birthday with nothing but "9's" in the date! I had been thinking of what I'd do this time, but finding the energy and money to get the house really cleaned up and fixed up - we have issues - just didn't seem possible, given my crazy schedule. So I got together with friends at lunch - Melanie the singer was one. And for dinner Iwent to Wildfire in Glenview with my husband Clinton, My brother Mike and his gal Kymm. The place was packed and there seemed to be other folks celebrating their birthdays throughout the room. Mike's birthday was Sunday, 9/6/9. So we exchanged gifts, ate too much, drank a bit, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves! All our dishes were outstanding, including dessert.
Clinton surprised me with some appropriate gifts. He continued the theme from my last blog entry, which was about seeing the film "Julie & Julia." He dug in the pantry and found my mom's copy of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" by Julia Child. I thought my mom owned it, but I couldn't remember if I had it or not (she died 8/14/99, shortly before my big party). It was exciting to look through her worn copy from 1970. Throughout were clippings of recipes from newspapers, notably from the St. Petersburg Times back in the 80's. That meant she took it with her when she and my dad went off to FL for the winter months. A time capsule. Clinton continued the theme by buying me Julia Child's autobiography, "My Life in France" which looks wonderful - lots of photos.
So how has my life changed in the last ten years? In that time I've been a poet, a singer/songwriter, a novelist, a college teacher, a jewelry designer and a collagist. I still have my full-time job in educational publishing, but it keeps changing, mostly getting more technical and less hands-on. Wish I could find the time to pursue all my creative interests simultaneously, but that will have to wait for retirement, which is now only five years away. My Etsy shop, the galleries where I have my craft work, and the ones I'm trying to get into will help supplement my income in the years ahead. I look forward to more creative adventures, whatever they will be. Maybe I'll get that novel published and bring my compositions together in a CD some day. I finally have ideas for drawings, so I'd like to try my hand at that again soon. I'd better get busy, before I run out of time!
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Back to the Blog with French cooking on my mind
It's been way too long since my last entry! Last night I saw the film "Julie and Julia" and had a wave of remorse about not keeping up my own personal blog. So I will try to be more committed.
The film also was a flash from the past. The first time I ever saw Julia Child on TV was during an art class. My mom and I were taking painting lessons from an elderly artist in her basement. She had a penchant for keeping the TV on. One day, close to Christmas, there was Julia in glorious black and white showing how to make a Yule log. It was hard to ignore that voice! But it was also great fun to see what she was up to. The Yule log was a cake with chocolate frosting applied to look like bark. To enhance the realism, Julia set up a broomstick horizontally and flung some gooey substance at it. It dripped as gravity took hold. Eventually she gathered it up and it became the moss on the log cake. I think it was caramel. Next she made meringue mushrooms in two pieces and stuck something sugary between to act as a glue. But when the camera focused on it, the top of the perfect looking mushroom fell off! After that, we were hooked. We enjoyed the classes, but we also enjoyed watching Julia. She loved to add wine and we speculated that she took sips from the bottle every now and then. And not everything was perfect. But you had to love her good humor and her effort!
My mother, Lorraine, was an ace cook. She was constantly clipping recipes from the newspaper and trying new things. I'm sure Julia Child became an influence for her, too. I haven't cooked from a recipe in ages, but would like to try again. The food in the film looked delicious, so I'd like to find Julia's book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking! Is great cooking in my genes? I want to try cooking the French way, just to find out.
Back in the 80's, I dated an actual French chef! His name was Jacques and he reminded me of a young Anthony Quinn. The accent, his looks, and his cooking were totally seductive. I lost my heart in a doomed relationship. He was a recovering alcoholic who longed for his ex-girlfriend. When they ran into one another unexpectedly, that was the end of our romance, though we stayed friends for a short time after that. A friend had me over for dinner once and I promised to cook for her. But instead, I brought my French chef friend over to her apartment where he cooked us both a fantastic New Year's Eve feast! It beat going out and fighting the crowds. But when we got to midnight, there was an awkward moment. So we all kissed and hugged and that was that.
Bon appetit!
The film also was a flash from the past. The first time I ever saw Julia Child on TV was during an art class. My mom and I were taking painting lessons from an elderly artist in her basement. She had a penchant for keeping the TV on. One day, close to Christmas, there was Julia in glorious black and white showing how to make a Yule log. It was hard to ignore that voice! But it was also great fun to see what she was up to. The Yule log was a cake with chocolate frosting applied to look like bark. To enhance the realism, Julia set up a broomstick horizontally and flung some gooey substance at it. It dripped as gravity took hold. Eventually she gathered it up and it became the moss on the log cake. I think it was caramel. Next she made meringue mushrooms in two pieces and stuck something sugary between to act as a glue. But when the camera focused on it, the top of the perfect looking mushroom fell off! After that, we were hooked. We enjoyed the classes, but we also enjoyed watching Julia. She loved to add wine and we speculated that she took sips from the bottle every now and then. And not everything was perfect. But you had to love her good humor and her effort!
My mother, Lorraine, was an ace cook. She was constantly clipping recipes from the newspaper and trying new things. I'm sure Julia Child became an influence for her, too. I haven't cooked from a recipe in ages, but would like to try again. The food in the film looked delicious, so I'd like to find Julia's book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking! Is great cooking in my genes? I want to try cooking the French way, just to find out.
Back in the 80's, I dated an actual French chef! His name was Jacques and he reminded me of a young Anthony Quinn. The accent, his looks, and his cooking were totally seductive. I lost my heart in a doomed relationship. He was a recovering alcoholic who longed for his ex-girlfriend. When they ran into one another unexpectedly, that was the end of our romance, though we stayed friends for a short time after that. A friend had me over for dinner once and I promised to cook for her. But instead, I brought my French chef friend over to her apartment where he cooked us both a fantastic New Year's Eve feast! It beat going out and fighting the crowds. But when we got to midnight, there was an awkward moment. So we all kissed and hugged and that was that.
Bon appetit!
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Art as Comfort
Two things coincided late in 2008. I got connected to a knitting group at work and started enjoying that craft, and then my father became ill and died. The group at work dispersed after the person who inspired it found another job. But my knitting did not. I found solace through the repetitive motions of making intersecting loops with yarn. It was how I grieved and I didn't want to do anything else. I had no motivation to make jewelry or work with paper or write. But what resulted in that period is a collection of scarves and a cowl that became gifts for family and friends. I found comfort in the activity, but I also gave others a piece of that comfort with those gifts. Now I'm working on a larger piece that will be either an afghan or a baby blanket. We'll see. It's full of imperfections, yet it's soft and textured and subtly colorful. I haven't gotten tired of knitting, but I've found my way out of doing just that. I'm back to making jewelry and even using bolder colors and textural combinations. But the collage is still a struggle. It will come back, too. I have lots of obligations ahead of me where my creations will need to be ready to sell.
In general, I do find art and craft making to be a comfort. When I get into that zone and time slips away, I'm so in that moment! I'm one with the universe and one with my work. And I find that even more ideas come. The door to my creative unconscious opens and the world beyond is filled with possibilities!
I've been knitting a lot tonight, so now it's time to visit my other pleasures. I bought some new materials today so I'm off to see what I can do with them. Maybe I'll talk about that next time.
In general, I do find art and craft making to be a comfort. When I get into that zone and time slips away, I'm so in that moment! I'm one with the universe and one with my work. And I find that even more ideas come. The door to my creative unconscious opens and the world beyond is filled with possibilities!
I've been knitting a lot tonight, so now it's time to visit my other pleasures. I bought some new materials today so I'm off to see what I can do with them. Maybe I'll talk about that next time.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
My first blog
I've been meaning to start a blog, and now I have! I can blame Etsy.com. That's where I have a shop called stockwellcottage, but its full name is Stockwell Cottage and Garden. It's a name with multiple meanings. I have a cottage industry. I often work in Galena, IL in a historical home (where we spend many weekends) which we started calling Stockwell Cottage. But then we replaced the weeds in the postage stamp garden with lots of perennials to create a cottage garden of ferns, coneflowers, sedum, hostas and loads of ground covers. I like to garden, but then I like to do lots of different things. Which led me to Etsy. My shop reflects my interests in making jewelry and working with collage. I guess you could say I create in the cottage and shop is my garden. I've just joined the Collage Etsy Team, which is very new. And that's my first Etsy Team, so I'm excited. I wanted to post comments to the team blog, so I had to start my own blog. But that's OK. I'm looking forward to it!
Karen
Karen
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